Relations between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon have soured over recent times, coming to an explosive head over the past year with the conclusion of a criminal trial against Salmond, for which he was acquitted of charges, as well as the current Scottish parliamentary investigation into the government’s ‘botched’ handling of assault complaints.
Empoword Journalism‘s Editor in Chief, Lauren McGaun, looks back at the history of this feud and offers some predictions on what effect this may have on nationalists’ hopes of Scottish independence.
Pre-2018
“Their partnership spans three decades”
Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon used to be close friends. Salmond was Scotland’s First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader whilst Sturgeon was his deputy. They had a joint ambition to lead Scotland to independence, having worked on the launch of the independence campaign together.
Their close alliance, displayed in them both running for their leadership roles in 2004, saw the pair become the most dominant force in Scottish politics for over a decade.
Their partnership spans three decades, with Salmond acting as a mentor figure for Nicola Sturgeon when he encouraged her to stand for Westminster aged 21. “So much of what I know about politics and how to be a politician, I’ve learned from him”, she once said.
In 2014, however, Salmond had to take a step back from Scottish leadership, having lost the independence referendum, 55% to 45%. In his place, Nicola Sturgeon now took the reins.
He did return in 2015; however, this time engaged in Westminster politics as he became MP for Gordon, in search of a new political path.
Just two years later in 2017, however, he suffered a catastrophic defeat, losing a seat for the first time in his 30 years of parliamentary service.
Up until 2018, however, the pair remained friends but they slowly started to drift apart, not having the same close connection they once shared when in power together. Many in the SNP argued that Sturgeon was wearying of Salmond by 2017 and that, following his stepdown from politics, he was becoming more of a nuisance than an asset to the party.
2018
In January 2018, allegations emerged that Mr Salmond had harassed two female officials after complaints were brought forwards by them. The complaints came after Nicola Sturgeon had pushed for new government policies on sexual harassment in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which saw many women come out with allegations of targeted abuse.
Whilst Salmond consistently denied the allegations, the Scottish government made a decision in the same month to launch an internal investigation into the complaints.
In August, Salmond was told that the government inquiry was complete but he was unsatisfied with the investigation and therefore decided to launch a judicial review, challenging the decisions of the central government in court.
2019
On the 8th January 2019, the government admitted its investigation was ‘unlawful’ after the court had said that it was ‘tainted by apparent bias’.
A week later, on the 15th January, the inquiry into handling of complaints also agreed that the government investigation had been unlawful.
Salmond, however, was then arrested on a separate probe, charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, including attempted rape.
In August of that same year, Salmond was awarded a £512,250 pay-out from the government after successfully challenging the lawfulness of their investigation.
2020
“his allies claimed that Salmond had been the victim of a targeted witch hunt by the SNP”
In March, charges of sexual harassment against Salmond were disproven by the criminal court, acquitting him of 13 charges of sexual assault.
Following the court verdict, his allies claimed that Salmond had been the victim of a targeted witch hunt by the SNP and that such conduct had to stop. Salmond praised the judicial system in bringing about this decision, thanking his supporters for standing by him throughout the trial.
Now
Today, Alex Salmond gave evidence to MSPs at the Holyrood inquiry in the Scottish Parliament over how the Scottish Government handled sexual harassment complaints against him. Salmond had previously submitted written evidence to the committee, citing ‘a deliberate, prolonged and concerted effort amongst a range of individuals within the Scottish government and the SNP to damage [his] reputation’.
In today’s inquiry, he said “the past two years have been a nightmare”.
“The Government has acted illegally, but somehow nobody is to blame”, he added.
"Scotland hasn't failed. Its leadership has failed."
Alex Salmond has criticised the leadership of the civil service, Crown Office and the Scottish government while giving evidence at a Holyrood inquiry.
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/Jq1fnGa6V5 pic.twitter.com/DTUAZZsHAT
— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) February 26, 2021
“Salmond has accused Sturgeon of not telling the truth about meetings with him”
Reflecting on the first part of Alex Salmond’s testimony to the inquiry, the BBC’s Political Correspondent, Nick Eardley, described his remarks as “quite a devastating critique from a former First Minister who was arguing that Scotland’s leadership has failed”.
In the second part of Salmond’s testimony, he also cited a sustained history of non-disclosure from the government as he argued that there was a ‘sequence of deliberate suppression of information inconvenient to the government’.
Salmond has accused Sturgeon of not telling the truth about meetings with him, misleading Parliament and breaking the ministerial code. If such allegations were found to be true, a standards expert has stated that she would have to resign from her position – a move which could greatly damage the reputation of the SNP.
In response to Salmond’s allegations, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has said: “He appears to be suggesting some kind of conspiracy or concerted campaign against him, without a shred of evidence. If he can’t substantiate it, it’s time for him to stop making these claims.”
Sturgeon was questioned by Scottish politicians in First Ministers Questions yesterday, where she accused her opponents of taking Mr Salmond’s claims “at face value”. She is expected to give evidence to the inquiry herself on Wednesday.
“the desire for Scottish independence may be so vigorous that it stretches beyond the confounds of party integrity”
The inquiry is set to conclude with a report in late March, at which point there will be less than two months before the Scottish Parliament rises from May’s elections.
If the inquiry concludes that Sturgeon broke ministerial code and she subsequently has to step down, many worry that this could damage nationalists’ chance of a second independence vote, no longer having the matriarch of the nationalist movement to steer them going forwards.
Others, however, have insisted that nationalist mentality remains so strong that it extends beyond parties and their reputation. The desire for Scottish independence may be so great that it stretches beyond the confounds of party integrity and if the SNP ceases to exist in the future, the campaign could still go ahead successfully.
“How the inquiry plays out over the next few weeks will dictate the strength of Scotland’s independence campaign going forward.”
Such a case seems increasingly unlikely however, as Sturgeon’s ratings start to plummet and, in response, polling suggests a decreased supported for independence – down 2% to a closer margin of 52%.
Whatever your views are on Scottish politics, this seems far more than just an internal spat. How the inquiry plays out over the next few weeks will dictate the strength of Scotland’s independence campaign going forward. Whatever the outcome, however, it’s likely to have a lasting and damaging stain on the SNP.
Lauren McGaun
Featured image courtesy of the SNP on Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Lauren McGaun
Lauren is a freelance journalist at BBC Politics. She helped set up EJ as Co-Founder and used to be Editor in Chief for over a year. Most evenings you will find her sipping Aperol Spritz whilst watching the news or a documentary.